White Construction and Engineering Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 21, 1951

94 N.L.R.B. 1419 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

WHITE CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING COMPANY, INC. 1419
WHITE CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING COMPANY, INC. and INTER-
NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BOILERMAKERS, IRON SHIP BUILDERS AND
HELPERS OF AMERICA, AFL, LOCAL No. 433, PETITIONER. Case No.
10-RC-923. June 21, 1951
Supplemental Decision and Certification of Representatives
Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election,' issued November
14, 1950; by the National Labor Relations Board, an election by secret
ballot was conducted under the direction and supervision of the Re-
gional Director for the Tenth Region on December 8, 1950, among cer-
tain employees of the Employer in the appropriate unit. At the close
of the election a tally of ballots was served upon the parties. The
tally showed that of approximately 20 eligible voters, 17 cast valid
ballots, of which 12 were for the Petitioner, 5 were for no union, and
there were 4 challenged ballots. On December 11, 1950, the Employer
filed timely objections to the election. Thereupon, in accordance
with the Board's Rules and Regulations, the Regional Director con-
ducted an investigation, and issued and caused to be served upon the
parties a report on the objections, dated February 15, 1951, wherein
he found that 2 of the Employer's 13 objections raised no substantial
or material issues, and recommended that these 2 objections be over-
ruled. He referred to the Board for ruling thereupon the remaining 11
of the Employer's objections. Thereafter, the Employer filed excep-
tions to the Regional Director's report, and also a brief in support of
said exceptions.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board has
delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Murdock].
The Employer's request for oral argument is hereby denied as, in
our opinion, the Employer's objections to the election, its exceptions
to the Regional Director's report on objections and its brief in support
thereof, and the entire record in this case, adequately present the
issues and the positions of the parties.
1. The 11 objections which the Regional Director referred to the
Board for ruling will be considered first.
(a) Three objections variously question the validity and adequacy
of the Petitioner's showing of representative interest among the em-
ployees made in this case. The Board has repeatedly held that the
showing of interest is an administrative matter for its own determina-
tion and is not subject to collateral attack.2 Accordingly, we find no
merit in these three objections.
' 92 NLRB 53.
C. D. Jenning8 & Company, 68 NLRB 516 •; and Mount Whitney Lumber Company,
90 NLRB No. 84.
94 NLRB No. 202.
1420 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
(b) A second group of three objections states, in substance, that
the Petitioner had not requested recognition and the Employer had
not declined to grant recognition before the petition was filed; and
therefore, the Employer alleges, the requirements of Section 9 (c) (1)
of the Act have not been met, thus precluding the Board from proc-
essing the petition. The Board has considered the identical question
in the past and has found it to be without merit.3 Accordingly, we
shall overrule these three objections.
(c) The Employer's seventh objection contests the Board's finding
that the Employer is engaged in interstate commerce within the mean-
ing of the Act, as found in the Board's Decision and Direction of
Election. The Board gave full consideration to the Employer's con-
tentions with respect to commerce at the time it rendered its original
decision. No reason now exists for altering the finding made at that
time. We therefore reject this objection of Ahe, Employer.
(d) The eighth objection alleges that in view of the Board's dispo-
sition of the commerce question, the Members of the Board, indi-
vidually, could not have fully considered all the evidence presented by
the Employer. The Members of the Board participating in the con-
sideration of this case have carefully considered all the evidence pre-
sented to the Board. Accordingly, this objection of the Employer is
overruled.
(e) The Employer's ninth objection challenges the appropriateness
of the bargaining unit. We have reexamined the unit issue, and affirm
our initial determination made with respect to the unit. The ninth
objection therefore is without merit.
(f) The tenth objection raises in issue the Employer's motion made
on December 2, 1950, to postpone the holding of the election in this
case for a period of 60 days. In denying the motion on December 5r
1950, the Board was of the. opinion that such a postponement was not
warranted. We are convinced that our denial of the motion at that
time was correct. The Employer's tenth objection is therefore over-
ruled.
(g) The last of the 11 objections referred to the Board by the-Re-
gional Director requests that the Board remand the case to a hearing
officer for further hearing on the petition because, in the Employer's
view, the initial hearing in this matter was incomplete. No cogent
reason has been advanced which, in out opinion, would warrant this.
unusual procedure. We are convinced that at the original hearing the.
Employer was given every opportunity to present whatever evidence
it believed relevant to the positions it was taking in the matter. Ac-
cordingly, we hereby overrule this objection.
3 Advance Pattern Company, 80 NLRB 29.
FEDERAL CARTRIDGE CORPORATION 1421
2. The two remaining objections with respect to which the Regional
Director conducted an investigation and then recommended that
the objections be overruled, generally challenge the Board's action in
holding the election as illegal, characterizing said action as a depriva-
tion of the Employer's personal rights, a violation of the Employer's
"property and constitutional rights," and a usurpation of the Em-
ployer's "business management prerogatives and authority." The
Board's authority for holding elections following hearings upon peti-
tions duly filed is found in the Labor Management Relations Act, the
constitutionality of which is too well established to require citation
of authority. Moreover, we are convinced that the Regional Director
and his agents conducted the election in strict conformity with the
Board's Rules and Regulations issued pursuant to Section 6 of the
Act. Accordingly, we adopt the Regional Director's recommendation
that these two objections be overruled.
On the basis of the foregoing, we find that neither the objections
or exceptions of the Employer raise substantial or material issues with
respect to the conduct of the election in this case.
Inasmuch as the tally of ballots shows that a majority, of all bal-
lots was cast for the Petitioner, and that the challenged ballots are
insufficient to affect the results of the election, we shall certify the
Petitioner as the collective bargaining representative of the employ-
ees in the appropriate unit.
Certification of Representatives
IT IS HEREBY CERTWIED that International Brotherhood of Boiler-
makers, Iron Ship Builders and Helpers of America, AFL, Local No.
433. has been designated and selected by a. majority of the employees
of White Construction and Engineering Company, Inc., St. Peters-
burg, Florida, in the unit heretofore found by the Board to be ap-
propriate, as their representative for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining, and that pursuant to Section 9 (a) of the Act, the said organ-
ization is the exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit
for the purposes of collective bargaining with respect to rates of pay,
wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment.
FEDERAL C ARTRn)GE CORPORATION (TwIN CITIES ARSENAL) and INTER-
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS. DISTRICT LODGE No. 77,
A. F. OF L., PE:TITioNER. Case No. 18-RC-1044. June 21, 1951
Decision and Direction of Elections
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Max Rotenberg, hearing
J4 NLRB No. 206.